Better Halves
by AnglcDmn1986
Summary: 1969: Damon hopped in a buddy's DeSoto for a ride to Woodstock, and he never thought he'd run into his brother. Shocked, and hurt by a discovery there, Damon is still numb years later in 2013. He's moved back to Mystic Falls to go to college out of boredom. While there, he meets Elena Gilbert for the first time. D/E, S/K with a good dose of Lexi meddling. AU
1. Evil Spawn Bitch

Disclaimer: I don't own Crazy and Peroxide. I think it'll be pretty obvious who they are after you've read the story a few moments, and I do not have rights to those characters, they are just making a cameo. I also do not own The Vampire Diaries. If you think I did, would I be fretting about paying back my student loans?

—

This idea for the story hit me out of the blue when I was trying to work on the new chapter for _Cheap Guitars _and in between having a conversation about some _All This Time_-related plotting with Taaroko. She had a lot of influence in helping me plot out the first couple chapters, but we are not co-writing this one together/she's acting as my beta. :) There is a longer author's note at the bottom. Enjoy!

—

Prologue

1969

New Jersey

Lexi carefully tiptoed around the bright sunlight shining into the apartment. It was morning as she grabbed a broom and carefully slid the black curtains shut. She took extra care not to touch the fresh sunlight as the bottom half of the window was opened and a cool breeze wafted in. She had forgotten to close the curtains the night before after a whiskey binge. The summer air smelled of car exhaust and faint hints of chocolate and the ocean—Lexi sniffed again.

She rolled her eyes as she realized Rose was smoking a joint. Little lines of smoke threaded from her bedroom.

They partied too much the night before. One of the human girls they'd lured into the apartment slept on the couch with a blanket thrown over her head in a dark corner. Rose's friend, Trevor, had one of his arms haphazardly thrown over the brunette's shoulders. Beer bottles were scattered all throughout the living room as Lexi surveyed the damage from the night before. She picked up the nameless girl's suede miniskirt and raised an eyebrow when she looked at the sleeping couple.

Lexi dropped the skirt back on the ground closer to the couch and continued her morning ritual of making sure every window was covered up. Halfway through semi-picking up the apartment, she turned on the radio to listen to the morning rock station. The Doors, Janis Joplin, Hendrix, The Beatles—so far, this was one of Lexi's favorite times she'd lived in just because of all the awesome music.

The third time that week between songs, the radio host announced a concert that was happening in New York. Lexi stopped to listen to the announcement—it was a music arts festival and the host said he planned on gathering a few friends to go to the concert, and he suggested if anyone could afford it, that they should go too.

Lexi definitely wanted to go.

She just wasn't sure if she wanted to go if Stefan Salvatore wasn't there with her.

Three years ago, Stefan moved to Washington D.C. to be part of the peace rallies against Vietnam. They'd talked it over, and Stefan decided it would be a good chance to be a part of something positive because no one agreed with the war anyway. That was when Lexi suggested he move to the capital.

Lexi wasn't sure if Stefan would be home. He was pretty active in the whole hippie movement—last Lexi heard, he was trying to grow his beard out and had long hair. His girlfriend consistently wanted to lay low, but Stefan really enjoyed living in D.C. and Lexi was proud of him.

"Hello?" came a woman's voice after three rings.

"Hey, Evil Spawn Bitch from Hell. How about you put my best friend on the phone?" Lexi asked without a beat.

Spawn Bitch snorted in disgust. "Stefan! Lexi's on the phone."

"Do you really have to keep calling her that?"

"So, Stefan," Lexi said, completely ignoring his admonishment of her nick name for his girlfriend, "there's this concert happening up in New York. I'm going. You should come too."

"Isn't that a three day thing?" Stefan asked. "How are you going to protect yourself from the sun?"

"I've got a tent," Lexi said. "I should be safe."

Stefan sounded like he was about to say something but he was interrupted. Lexi rolled her eyes as she listened to the distinct sound of smacking lips.

"Stefan?" Lexi asked after a few seconds.

"Oh, yeah," Stefan said. "We're coming."

"Awesome!" Lexi balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear, and then clapped. "You can meet my friends. What else is up in D.C.?"

—

"I think I want to bite Janis Joplin."

Damon looked at his companions, Crazy and Peroxide, in amusement.

Damon usually didn't like to travel with other vampires, but this couple had been his ride up to White Lake, New York where Woodstock was happening. When he let himself think about it, Damon realized just how much he missed Katherine. She would have loved it here. Crazy swayed in Peroxide's arms to Janis's song, "To Love Somebody." From the back, Crazy would have almost looked like Katherine had Damon not known any better.

Damon simply missed Katherine. He wondered sometimes how was ever going to wait long enough to get her out of the tomb.. With the help of Sage and a lot of time, Damon enjoyed the company of other women, but they would never be Katherine. Peroxide seemed to be just as devoted to Crazy as Damon was to Katherine, and that was why he tolerated the eccentric British couple.

"Can't do that, love," Peroxide said as he swung Crazy into his arms. "Much as I'd love to, I think the world would notice her death."

"All this talk is making me hungry," Damon said. He stood up and shook some grass from his jeans. "Give me some whiskey, Peroxide."

"Can I eat Jim Morrison then?" Crazy asked. "He's not here."

Peroxide stepped back from Crazy and gave her a flustered look before he took a drag of his cigarette and thrust his whiskey bottle in Damon's direction, "sure thing mate."

Damon wasn't drunk enough at this concert, but he figured if he drank too much, he wouldn't remember anything that happened, and that was happening around to enough people anyway. He was enjoying the entire concert far more than he thought he would when he agreed to hop into Peroxide's Desoto. He knew they told him their names when he got into the car, but now Damon couldn't remember.

Damon didn't get too far until he saw a familiar blonde with hair past to her butt feeding on a guy.

"Lexi?" Damon asked. "Practice what we teach much?"

Lexi dropped the guy she was feeding on when she turned to face Damon, fangs out and eyes red.

"What are you doing here?" Lexi asked. She crossed her arms and retracted her fangs. The guy she had just bitten moaned and laughed from the ground.

Damon shrugged. "I'm enjoying the music like everyone else." He took Lexi's appearance in. Her hair fell to her hips in loose waves and a headband was tied around her head. She wore jeans that were torn at the knees and a bright pink peasant shirt. She looked very much like a flower child. "My brother here by any chance?"

Lexi stiffened for a minute.

"Yeah," she finally said. "He's here."

Next thing Damon knew, he was on the ground and Lexi's hands were wrapped around his neck. "You're not going to upset him, Damon, so don't even think about it."

Damon coughed and tried to get Lexi's hands off his neck, "I just want to see him."

Lexi narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, then stood and straightened out her jeans and hair. "All right. He's in a tent with a couple friends."

Damon went back to find Peroxide and Crazy once Lexi explained where the tent was. Peroxide handed him the whiskey bottle.

"I just found out my brother is here," Damon said.

Crazy clapped her hands. "Family is wonderful! Daddy ate mine."

Damon choked on the whiskey Peroxide handed him. "What?"

Peroxide chuckled. "Her sire. It's a long story, mate."

Damon didn't want Peroxide or Crazy to elaborate, and so he handed the whiskey bottle back to Peroxide and turned into the direction of Lexi's tent. Damon hadn't even realized Lexi had friends other than Stefan, but he usually tried to stay out of Stefan and Lexi's way, especially after what happened when he ran into them in New Orleans. Damon was still pissed off at Lexi for when she wouldn't let him join Stefan in the war but the moment he saw Stefan with a long pony tail pulled back and a beard that consisted mostly of peach fuzz and bad side burns, Damon forgot about all that shit when he pulled his brother in to his arms and gave him a tight hug.

"Damon?" Stefan asked in surprise. "I didn't think I'd ever see you here."

Damon shrugged as he took a step back and looked at Stefan. "Why wouldn't I be? There's plenty of great music and people to go around."

Stefan quickly hugged him back, and then punched Damon in the shoulder.

"Ow, what the hell was that for?"

"You left me thinking you were going to join me in the war."

Damon winced. He figured Stefan would bring that up. "What's it matter? We're here now. You really shouldn't try to grow a beard, brother. You always did have to follow the crowd, didn't you?"

Stefan frowned at him, and was about to say something until Lexi stepped out of the tent. A large cloud of smoke followed her and the thick smell of marijuana followed.

"Damon," Lexi said. "I didn't realize you traveled with friends."

"Oh, yeah, Crazy, Peroxide, this is my brother Stefan and his friend Lexi," Damon said.

Peroxide took a step forward, cigarette and bottle in his left hand as he held out his right to shake Stefan's hand. "Nice to meet you, mate."

Crazy said nothing, she merely moaned a little bit and stepped closer to Peroxide.

A sudden burst of giggles came from the tent.

"I hope you've enjoyed running as much as we have!" came the voice of a British woman.

"It's a good thing he's out of the country," a man said. "We would have never been able to come here."

Lexi rolled her eyes and ducked her head back into the tent. "Please don't use all the acid."

A peal of laughter erupted from the tent.

"Stefan? Are you going to be—"

Damon's world froze for a moment as he locked his gaze with a pair of brown eyes he didn't think he would see for a very long time. She froze too.

Before Katherine could escape, Damon wrapped one of his hands around her arm in a vice grip and yanked her from the tent. Katherine was older, and could have gotten away easily, but she seemed to have the general courtesy to be just as shocked to see Damon as he was to see her.

"What the hell? I thought you were desiccating in a tomb in Mystic Falls?"

Katherine yanked her arm from Damon's hand and brushed some loose hair from her braid behind her ears as Stefan quickly rushed to her side. "Don't act so surprised, Damon," Katherine said.

Damon rounded on Stefan. "You knew she wasn't in the tomb?"

Stefan looked torn as he looked at Damon, and then at Katherine. Lexi groaned and muttered something about drama as she climbed into the tent. "I am going to need to be stoned out of my mind for this."

For a few moments, Damon didn't notice the rest of the world as he stared at his brother and Katherine. He wasn't aware his heart could feel so tight when the realization that Stefan knew Katherine was alive and well sank in.

"I chose him, Damon," Katherine said. The squeezing feeling on his heart got worse when Stefan took Katherine's hand and pulled her close to his side.

"I found her about three years ago at a peace rally," Stefan said. "I didn't let her go."

"Peroxide," Damon said. "Can I have that whiskey?"

Peroxide handed the bottle to him without a word.

Damon gulped the whiskey down as fast as he could and ignored the sting as it burned down his throat.

"I thought you were still in Mystic Falls!" Damon yelled. He threw the empty bottle to the ground. "I had Emily do a spell! I was going—I _waited_ for you!"

"I thought she was dead!" Stefan said.

Katherine tried to take a step back in alarm, but Stefan gripped her tighter and didn't let her move.

"What—what the hell is this about you choosing Stefan?" Damon asked.

"Sod this," Peroxide said. "Sorry about the love triangle, mate, but I get enough of this from _Days of Our Lives_. Come on pet, let's go feed on a flower person."

"Wait," Crazy said. She stared at Katherine and took a step forward. "You're the mother," she said, tilting her head to the side. "But your child is gone. Your face isn't your face and your heart has turned to stone. The crone is long dead and the maiden is yet to be born." She looked at Damon instead. "She's your love on the outside. The insides are all wrong." She whimpered and clutched her head. "_Wrong!_"

Peroxide pulled Crazy into his arms and glared at Damon, Katherine, and Stefan. Something about what Crazy said sent an unsettling chill through Damon, and Katherine's brown eyes widened as she took a step closer to Stefan, who wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Sod this," Peroxide hissed.

Damon couldn't care how Peroxide and a whimpering Crazy walked off to leave him alone to stare at his brother and his ex-lover.

"Did you ever plan on letting me know you were alive?" Damon finally asked.

"I thought about it," Katherine admitted.

"She had a good reason for disappearing and letting everyone think she was dead," Stefan said.

"A good reason? Really?" Damon asked. "Enlighten me."

"Stefan… you know what we talked about," Katherine said.

"No, I'm not doing that," he said. "Damon, I wish I could explain everything to you, but I can't. Please. I know this hurts—"

"You have no idea how much this fucking hurts," Damon hissed.

I'm sorry—."

Damon punched Stefan in the face. "I don't care about any apologies, or reasons why you did this, Katherine," he spat out.

He turned and followed the general direction Crazy and Peroxide walked in.

—

New York

1977

Damon laid on the pool table with a bottle of bourbon in his right hand. His head swam as the alcohol ran through his system. After a long night of partying, drinking blood, and loud music, he just wanted to rest.

Lexi, however, had other ideas.

"Come on, Damon, talk to me," she said.

Damon rolled his eyes and sat up, taking a long swig of the bourbon. "Just because Stefan doesn't need you anymore it doesn't mean I'm your next project."

Lexi scoffed and forcefully pushed Damon over while she hopped onto the pool table with him. "I don't need a project," she said.

"I'm not willing to make nice and be best friends with you either," Damon said.

Lexi stole Damon's bourbon. "I'm not asking for that either."

"She's really got him back on human blood, and he isn't full on Ripper?" Damon stole the bourbon back.

"Would that make you feel anything? Yes, Evil Spawn Bitch from Hell got Stefan to drink human blood, and he stopped ripping them apart …they still kill."

Damon took in a deep breath and handed the bourbon back to Lexi. "I've got to hand it to you, Evil Spawn Bitch suits her."

"You're avoiding the actual—"

"I'm not switched off. I'm just… numbing with large quantities of booze," Damon said. They both laid on the table together.

Lexi groaned. "We're both pathetic."

Damon snorted. "What makes you figure that?"

"Stefan has completely blown us off for Katherine and we're lying on a pool table in the middle of the night commiserating over how much his relationship with Katherine sucks."

"I think it was the other way around. I blew Stefan off," Damon said.

Lexi huffed. "Same difference. Neither one of us have anything to do. That's why we're here."

Damon sat up and suggestively leaned over Lexi. "We could always…"

"Ew! No!" Lexi sat up and pushed Damon away. "No. I'm not going there."

Damon scowled at her then took a large drink. "Buzz kill."

"You know what? We both need projects. I'm thinking about going back to school," Lexi said.

"Aren't you a little old for that?" Damon asked.

Lexi responded with a glare.

Damon sat up. "Look, I'm not going to let you turn me into your little pet project just because you feel sorry for yourself because Stefan is all de-rippered and you can't send him on any silly little quests to find his inner peace and atone for his sins or whatever other hero-crap you filled his head with. I'm not my brother, so you really should stop trying, Lexi, because it's not going to work. How many times do I have to tell you this?"

Lexi slowly walked back toward him, and made him open his legs so she could stand between them. She took his bottle away. "You're right," she said. "You're not Stefan. That's why she didn't choose you. But if you keep playing Son of Giuseppe and acting like an irresponsible asshat, you're letting Katherine win."

Lexi stared up at him, and for a minute Damon thought she was going to give in to his earlier suggestion, but she smirked at him then took a step back.

"You're a tease," Damon muttered out of irritation as she left the bar.

—

Okay, now that you've read it, I can write the big long author's note.

So, a couple things:

Work is CRAZY right now. I'm getting 8 hour shifts and by the time I'm done with work, I'm exhausted and want to go to sleep. My manager is relentless too and I won't be surprised if I only get one day off work.

On top of that, I'm moving soon. This shouldn't affect any story updating for right now, but around the 22nd I shall be moving into the house my youngest brother just bought. I'm super excited since I'll actually be living with both of my brothers and the three of us will all be saving an ass load of money. I'm also moving to a city that's just slightly bigger than this one and I'll be closer to some old college friends who I haven't seen in a long, long time, so I'm excited.

And I'm probably going to be crazy and paint my bedroom a deep pink.

But anyway, back to the actual story. I've been playing around with the What-If-Damon-And-Stefan-Found-Out-Katherine-Wasn' t-In-The-Tomb-Earlier plot for a few months. If you look at my Buffy fanfics, you'll see I'm bad about starting new stories. I'm still very much in the TVD-verse now though, so don't worry—this will not take away from writing on _All This Time _and _Cheap Guitars._ I just like having a couple projects going on. I'm letting Taaroko take the next _ATT _chapter on her own since I figured she was due to be in the spotlight for a while since I've done a few on my own as well :P. We plotted together and everything, but I still have a writing bug and a hang up where I can't write anything out of order for a story, so my mind started wondering to this one.

I really want to know what you guys think—This is going to be a Delena. This was just the prologue. I've got like two pages of chapter one done. Elena is going to be in college when she meets Damon. *grins* I have a really awesome scene planned out at some point, but I'm not willing to let on just yet. :P I feel like this note is getting too long.

Kudos if you can figure out who Crazy and Peroxide are :P

Make sure you leave a review! I'm still not so certain about this story. The only way I can find out what you guys think about it is if you leave a review. :) Follows and story alerts are fantastic, but reviews really are the only way an author ever learns what you truly think.

Also, I'm on twitter: anglcdmn1986


	2. Coffee & Anthro

Taaroko didn't get a chance to have a final look over with this chapter, but she's seen parts of it and suggested a few things. Lots of love, hon! I've gone over it enough that I was solid on it not having any serious mistakes.

There's a longer author's note at the bottom of the chapter. Enjoy!

—

Chapter One

Mystic Falls

May 2012

Elena shuffled her feet nervously behind the black 1986 Chevy Malibu as she looked at Matt Donovan, her boyfriend—no, ex-boyfriend. He kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish. As soon as his employees, Tyler Lockwood, and her brother, Jeremy, heard "we need to talk," they bolted from the garage.

"Just like that?" Matt asked. "It's over?"

Elena sucked her lower lip into her mouth and bit down as she took a deep breath.

She. Would. Not. Fucking. Cry.

"Matt…I'm sorry."

"I don't get it!" Matt shouted, pushing a box of tools from the roof of the Chevy to the ground. Elena jumped as the crash of metal rang through the garage. "Elena, how can you do this? We've been together since we were fifteen."

Matt had been her first real boyfriend. For the longest time she thought what everyone else thought—she would be with Matt forever. She would go to college and get her bachelor's degree in English with a creative writing emphasis while Matt ran the auto body repair shop her dad loaned him the money for. When she graduated college, Matt and Elena would get married and then by twenty-nine, they'd have the perfect little small town American family with the two-point-five-kids. Matt would keep the shop while she stayed home and balanced being a writer and stay at home mom.

"Matt… You told me you want to get married _this _December. We're only twenty."

Elena's eyes darted away from Matt's broken expression.

"You don't want to get married? Then why the hell are you breaking up with me?"

"I'm not ready to get married. I didn't say I want to break up," Elena said.

"You could have fooled me!" Matt said. "Why are you wearing that engagement ring?"

Elena's left hand shook when she looked at the simple diamond ring on her finger. It meant so many things to her—years of friendship, the promise of becoming an adult and marrying her high school sweetheart. A few fat tears escaped when she took the ring off.

"I can't get married this young," Elena said. She hesitated for a second before she reached out and took Matt's hand, and then gently placed the ring into his palm. "I'm so sorry, but we need to slow this relationship down."

Matt stared at the ring.

"We've been together almost six years, Elena. How is getting married in December too fast?" His voice broke a little as he angrily bit out the words and closed his hand over the ring. "If anything, this is exactly the direction we should be moving. I thought we were moving in the right direction, when you said yes two weeks ago."

"I want to finish college first," Elena said.

"Is that the only reason?" Matt asked.

Elena tried to come up with a response that made sense and wouldn't cause her to hurt Mat any more than she already was, but her mind remained infuriatingly blank.

"We don't have to break up—"

Matt held the ring out. "Then please keep the ring. You're right. We don't have to get married in December. Maybe we can get married next summer."

"I don't want to be engaged!" Elena burst out. "I love you, Matt, but I'm not ready for it."

For a split second Elena was afraid Matt would break down and cry with her and tell her everything would be okay and they could wait to get married until after college. Why was she so terrified of that?

Instead, Matt let out a growl of frustration, turned around, and angrily threw Elena's engagement ring across the garage. It pinged somewhere as it hit another car.

"Matt—I'm so sorry—we still—"

"No, Elena. That's it. I'm done."

Elena's breath caught in her throat. "What?"

"I love you too," Matt said, "but I can't be in this relationship with you if you aren't willing to be on the same page with me. We haven't been on the same page since you went to college and I didn't."

"Matt, come on, we should both just calm down—"

"I am calm!" Matt turned and yelled at her. "I—God, Elena. Just get out of here before we make things worse."

—

January 2013

Tears were streaming down Elena's face when she woke up.

She had not expected to dream about that painful day when she laid down to take a nap. Elena sniffled and tried thinking about something else. Anything. Her brother and his girlfriend, and how ridiculously cute they were as college freshmen. Caroline Forbes's constant nagging about joining a sorority with her. How exciting it was that she was only a semester away from becoming a college junior—none of it worked. Elena dissolved into tears.

"Oh, Elena, what's wrong?"

Bonnie Bennett, Elena's best friend and roommate, dropped her backpack to the ground. She quickly shut their dorm door then made Elena scoot over on the twin bed. "Are you upset about Matt again?"

Elena didn't say anything because she didn't have to. Bonnie wrapped her arms around Elena, who buried her head into the other girl's shirt as she sobbed.

"You know he _sucks _because he got Beth Hensley pregnant."

"I thought she was a rebound. Caroline said she was a rebound," Elena said. She pulled back and wiped some tears from her eyes. "You don't marry the rebound and have a baby together."

"I know, sweetie… He really sucks."

Elena laughed at herself. "I really wish I could turn him into the bad guy but I can't. Matt was ready for a family and I wasn't, so that's why we broke up. I just wish it didn't hurt so damn much." Elena raked her hands through her hair. "I just couldn't give him what Beth Hensley has obviously given him."

Her ex-friend's new wife's name tasted like acid in her mouth as she said it.

Bonnie smiled sadly at her and smoothed some hair from Elena's face. "I'm glad you don't want me to hate him. I can hate Vicki, though, right? She had no right to tell you to stay out of Mystic Falls over the break."

Elena shook her head furiously at Bonnie. She didn't want to think about Matt's stupid sister. She threatened Elena when she was home over the break, and Matt hadn't even bothered to do anything about it. It sucked, but Elena was certain their friendship was over for now. She didn't know Beth that well either, and it would be awkward to try to get to know the girl when she had so much history with Matt. Elena also didn't need the constant reminder that she hadn't been able to bite down her insecurities and just stay engaged to Matt.

"What time is it?" Elena said. Change the subject. Focus on something else. Get a hold of her emotions—that was how Elena forced herself to be okay whenever she started thinking too much about Matt and Bonnie or Caroline were trying to console her.

Bonnie sighed and reached into her jeans to pull out her cell phone. "It's one-thirty."

Elena frowned and reached over her desk next to her bed, yanking a piece of paper from under a pile of books. Bonnie squealed and caught them for Elena while she looked at the paper.

"Crap," Elena said. "We're supposed to meet Caroline for coffee and I have class at two." Elena stood and grabbed her hair brush. "I don't look too bad, do I?"

"No," Bonnie said.

"I don't look like I've been crying? Caroline will jump on me if she thinks I was," Elena said.

"Elena." Bonnie laughed, "You look fine. Come on, I'll treat you to a café mocha with lots of whipped cream."

"That sounds amazing," Elena said as she picked up her backpack.

—

Fifteen minutes later and a few sips of her café mocha, Elena talked to Bonnie about their classes they had Monday. Elena listened to Bonnie as she talked about her intro to physical anthropology class.

"And there is this really _cute _guy who sat next to me," Bonnie added.

Elena smiled, unraveling the yarn in her lap from her fingers as she reached for her coffee. Elena forgot her scarves when she came back to the dorm for the spring semester and she had some extra yarn from the blanket she made for her mom and dad for Christmas. Elena had taken up knitting as a way to distract her after she broke things off with Matt. She was now one row away from casting off with her Knit Picks. The plastic cables clicked together as she set her work down to drink her coffee and reach for her blueberry muffin.

"Well, maybe you have to suggest being study buddies," Elena said with a grin.

Teasing her best friend about boys was of the good.

"I wonder where Caroline is," Bonnie said.

"She said something about a Tri Delta meeting before she comes over," Elena said. She picked her scarf back up.

"Okay, Elena," Caroline said five minutes when she dropped her purse and Tri Delta tote onto the floor, "I thought you weren't ready to be married. What the hell are you doing that for?"

Elena was in the middle of casting off her scarf. She rolled her eyes at her other best friend. "Knitting isn't just for little old ladies, Care."

"_Why _and _what_ the hell are you making?"

Bonnie groaned as Caroline made her scoot over on the couch she and Elena were sitting down. Caroline plopped down on the couch between the two girls.

"It's a scarf," Elena said. She had lavender and light blue bamboo yarn, and she was knitting both skeins together at once.

"Why don't you just buy a scarf like a normal person?" Caroline asked. "You have aged yourself like, forty years, by knitting."

"Hey!" Bonnie yelped. She smacked Caroline's shoulder. "I crochet."

Caroline rolled her eyes. Bonnie looked at Elena in exasperation over their blonde friend. Caroline Forbes was the way she was and there was nothing neither Elena nor Bonnie could do about it because they loved her just the way she was.

"How are you holding up over the whole Matt thing?"

Elena almost dropped a stitch when Caroline asked her that question.

"It's fine," Elena said.

Caroline looked like she wanted to say something else, but Bonnie glared at her pretty hard. Caroline huffed and rolled her eyes. Elena would have giggled at them both had she not suddenly started thinking about how much screwing up things with Matt sucked.

"Ugh! Whatever," Caroline burst out. "Tri Deltas are having a party in the sorority house this weekend. It's a big 'yay, a new semester!' party Saturday. We can invite non-Greek and I want you both to come."

"Cool," Bonnie said. "I'm in."

"You both would _know _about this if you would have just pledged with me."

"I'm really, really sorry, Care, but I don't want to be a part of your sorority," Bonnie said.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Elena?"

Elena pulled the last stitch over the end of her scarf, and it was finished minus a few additional things she had to do like weave in the ends. "I can't abandon Bonnie and make her live with a new roommate she doesn't know."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Fine. You both suck but you're both the worst friends in the world if you don't come to the party."

"I'll go only if you come over for a movie night tonight," Elena said. She used a yarn cutter on her keys and tied a knot at the end of the scarf.

"I'm up for a movie night," Caroline said.

"We should enjoy spending time together before the semester gets too busy," Bonnie agreed.

"Awesome! Elena, you're bringing a boy to the party."

Elena groaned. "No way. I don't know any guys on campus."

Caroline grinned, smug. "So? Meet someone. Bonnie, you have to bring someone too."

Bonnie and Elena looked at each other, rolling their eyes.

"Hey! I saw that. You'll both thank me later."

Elena looked at her phone.

"I better get to class."

"Is it Gram's anthropology class?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah," Elena said. "It still sucks that you didn't get into the class with me."

Shelia Bennett was teaching Magic and Superstition for the anthropology department. Bonnie's major was anthropology and Elena felt really bad she hadn't been able to get a spot in the class. They both tried to register at the same time last semester, but Bonnie frustratingly got a blue screen on her PC just as she was about to hit "submit" for her class schedule.

"It really does," said Bonnie.

"I can always drop it," Elena said.

"No," Bonnie shook her head as Elena stood. "You'll love the class and I can take it another semester."

Elena nodded. She really wanted to take at least one of Shelia's classes before she no longer needed any electives. Anthropology was a fascinating subject anyway. As a writer, Elena could appreciate the merits of studying humanity.

"Care, do you want the rest of this? There wasn't enough whipped cream." Elena held her coffee out to Caroline as she curled up the paper from her muffin.

"Sure! Mm, it's just how I like it," Caroline said as she took a sip. Caroline never drank her coffee as soon as she got it. "I owe you some later."

"You should bring some coffee over so we can brew it for something to drink for the movie tonight," Bonnie suggested.

—

Damon looked around the classroom. Not many students were there for class yet. He sat in the back next to a window. A small draft wafted in—the windows sucked. Damon didn't mind it.

No, he wasn't watching the snow fall.

He also wasn't thinking about how ridiculous it was that Stefan was repeating high school again and how Katherine was going along with it somewhere in a small town in Pennsylvania.

College was far better.

Damon was only going to college again because he was bored. He didn't feel like living in Mystic Falls and bothering Zach. As much as it would amuse him, Damon was trying to lay low.

"Do you mind if I sit next to you?"

Damon did a double take when he saw the girl nervously playing with the left strap of her backpack. Her brunette hair was straight, and her eyes weren't such a cold brown. She had a scarf wrapped around her neck that had loose strands of yarn—other than that, she looked exactly like Katherine.

Only Katherine was in Pennsylvania somewhere with Stefan while he repeated high school. As much as he was pissed at Katherine and Stefan for what happened at Woodstock, Stefan was still his brother, and thinking Katherine was dead had devastated Stefan as much as it devastated him. Damon still was numb to his feelings over the whole situation with them now, and twenty-five years ago when Stefan and Katherine got married, Damon begrudgingly called and welcomed her to the family.

"Sure," Damon said.

The tables in the class seated two people at a time. This wasn't going to be a very large class. Maybe twenty students at the most. It was one of the reasons Damon chose it.

"Thanks," the girl said. She put her backpack on the ground, set her coffee down, and unzipped her coat. She placed her coat on the back of the wooden chair and left her scarf on.

It was then that Damon noticed her nose.

A big smudge of whipped cream was on the tip of her nose.

He laughed. No, this girl was Katherine's double but Katherine wouldn't ever be caught looking so unkempt. Damon knew exactly where Katherine was anyway because, just to piss his dear brother and sister-in-law off, he had called them at three A.M. that morning just to piss them off. Katherine and Stefan were more like an elderly human couple than vampires in that they always got really pissed off at him whenever he called them at night.

"What's funny?" The girl asked.

"You just…" Damon leaned forward and wiped the whipped cream from her nose. She sat back quickly and turned bright red when Damon licked the cream from his fingers, "had a little something on your nose."

"Um," the girl said. "Thanks."

He smiled at her. "I'm Damon."

She seemed glad he was being friendly. The girl held out her hand. "I'm Elena."

Instead of shaking her hand, Damon wrapped it in both of his and gently kissed the top of her knuckles. Her skin was very soft and she smelled incredible—ever the Southern gentleman, Damon couldn't resist the gesture. Elena turned red.

He didn't care if it made her uncomfortable, but at the same time he didn't want her to move to another seat.

"Nice scarf," he said.

"Oh," Elena ran her fingers over the loose threads of yarn. "Thanks. I just finished knitting it but it's not finished. I needed something warm though."

"My sister-in-law is a knitter."

"Cool," Elena said. She reached for her backpack and pulled out a notebook. "Damn."

"Hm?"

"I can't find my pens… I must have left them in my dorm."

Damon reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen. "I don't think we'll need notes since this is the first day of class, but here you go."

Elena smiled at him when she took the pen. "Thanks. I know the professor, though. There might be notes."

"How do you know her?"

"She's my roommate's grandmother."

When Damon saw the last name, "Bennett" on the class registry for the class, it inspired him to sign up for the class. He wondered if the professor was related to Emily.

He hadn't needed to open the tomb, but Damon figured he could at least keep an eye on Emily's descendants.

Damon was only slightly curious.

"Are you from around here?"

"I'm from Mystic Falls," Elena said. "You?"

"I'm…from Mystic falls too. I have an uncle there but I haven't lived in town for years."

"Oh?" Elena perked up a little and turned to look at him after she finished neatly writing the name of the class on the first page of her notebook. "What's your last name? Maybe I know your uncle."

"Salvatore," Damon said.

Her eyes brightened. "I'm a Gilbert. I didn't know there were other Salvatores other than Zach and his wife."

Zach had a wife now—Damon had forgotten.

"Well, we're around," Damon said.

"I always get a little excited when I meet families of founding members. I help my mom with a lot of charity stuff back home. Well—" Elena paused. "I might not anymore."

Before Damon could question Elena anymore, Shelia came into the classroom. One look at her and Damon knew she was one of Emily's descendants. Damon made an effort to hide his daylight ring from her and didn't speak too much other than a small introduction of himself when Shelia asked everyone to say something about themselves.

—

Caroline chose _Twilight _for their movie.

Elena frequently found herself rolling her eyes at Bella. How could a woman let herself get so wrapped up in a guy? Sure, she was upset over what happened with Matt. They'd been in a relationship for a long time. But her whole entire world hadn't revolved around him.

Never mind the sparkling vampire thing.

Elena had a severe case of eye rolling.

"Why did you choose this movie again?" Bonnie asked. Bonnie had wanted to watch an older movie like _Cleopatra,_ and Elena had agreed, but when Caroline whined and started griping about Bonnie and Elena refusing to pledge to the Tri Deltas, they gave in and let her put in the stupid movie.

Caroline, who lied on her stomach on Bonnie's bed, tossed some popcorn into her mouth. "Are you serious? Bella and Edward have a really epic love. It's such a romantic story, like_ Romeo and Juliet_."

Elena immediately groaned. "Okay," she said. "Romeo took one look at this girl—who was fourteen or something—and ditched the girl he was already with, and in like two days, they were married, and then they killed themselves because she failed to inform him about that death-imitating potion thing she took. The play is only good if you look at it from the perspective of the feud between the families. The feud would've never ended without the deaths of those two kids, and now the survivors have to deal with the guilt of knowing what their ridiculous bickering cost them."

Caroline gaped and Bonnie looked very amused.

Caroline recovered after a few minutes—somewhere between Alice having a vision about Bella dying and them rushing to Italy to prevent Edward from doing something stupid—and threw a handful of popcorn at Elena.

"Geez. Majoring in English has made you critical," Caroline huffed, "and so has breaking up with Matt."

Elena was very satisfied with her argument over _Romeo and Juliet_. She almost wanted to argue about Twilight but she shut her mouth and watched the last bit of movie after she wiped the popcorn from her bed Caroline had thrown at her.

"Speaking of boys, actually," Bonnie said, "I'm bringing that guy I met in my anthropology class. I had another with him today and we started talking before class started."

Caroline sat up, excited, and crossed her legs.

"Really? That's so awesome," Caroline said. "What's his name?"

"Ryan," Bonnie said.

"Ooh, okay. I think it's great you found someone so fast," Caroline said. "What about you, Elena?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "I told you I don't really know any guys on campus."

"What about the cute guy you sat next to in your magic and superstition class?" Bonnie asked.

Elena immediately rolled her eyes and made a strange sound in the back of her throat, a mix between a groan and frustrated moan. "Your grandmother gossips more than Caroline."

"Hey!" Caroline yelped, tossing more popcorn at Elena. "What boy?"

"He was just someone I shared a desk with because I didn't feel like sitting in the front of the class."

Damon was hot. He seemed smarter than a lot of other guys Elena met on campus. He was probably a couple years older than them too. He also was an incredible flirt—he totally took Elena by surprise when he kissed her hand before class started.

"Damon is just a big flirt," said Elena. She was _not _telling Bonnie and Caroline that he kissed her hand. "I'll probably sit next to someone else in class on Thursday."

"You will do no such thing!" Caroline sounded like a damn screech owl. "Ask him to come to the party Saturday."

"Grams has a lot of students so she doesn't usually notice anything special about them, but she did notice the way he made you smile," Bonnie said.

Elena threw a pillow at her friends. "This is the last time we watch chick flicks and drink two pots of coffee for a long time," she huffed.

Caroline and Bonnie squealed and ducked. The pillow harmlessly flopped onto the ground.

"Don't be silly," Caroline said. "Just ask Damon to come to the party."

Elena rolled her eyes.

"Fine."

—

Elena hesitated before she walked into the anthropology class. Damon sat in the same spot he sat Tuesday. It was when someone looked at her seat that Elena darted inside the room and quickly sat down, almost pushing the other student down in her haste to sit next to him.

He looked at her in amusement as the other student yelped, "Watch it!"

Elena didn't talk to him right away. She busied herself with pulling off her coat and scarf, and then opening her backpack. She put her textbook and notebook on the table and pulled out two pens.

Stop being a coward, Elena told herself. Just ask him to the stupid party and get it over with. If he said no and got weirded out, she could always move to another desk and avoid him for the rest of the semester.

"I see things aren't hanging from your scarf anymore."

"Huh?" Elena said. "Oh…yeah, I fixed that as soon as class was over Tuesday." She pulled a pen from her notebook. "I forgot to give your pen back. I have mine now."

His fingers brushed against hers and sent a shock through her arm as he took his pen back. She pulled her hand back quickly.

"No problem," Damon said. "Do you like your classes so far?"

"They've been great," Elena said. Should she ask him now? She tried to form the words, and she was very aware of his blue eyes watching her as she battled with herself to stop battling with herself and to stop being a stupid coward.

"Is something on your mind?"

Elena was not a coward, so she sucked in a deep breath. "Actually," she started, "my friend, Caroline, is in the Tri Delta sorority and they're having a beginning of the semester party this Saturday. Caroline is forcing me to bring someone and I feel really awkward asking this because I don't know you well yet—but there's five bucks in it if you come with me."

Damon seemed to just stare at her. Elena fidgeted and clicked one of her pens a few times.

"Look—I know it's stupid, and you don't have to go."

"I'd love to," Damon said.

"Really?" Elena asked. "Awesome—you don't have to hang out with me that long. Caroline just has to see that I brought someone."

Damon chuckled at her. "I wouldn't do that to you. You can keep your five dollars too."

Elena smiled widely at him. She dug her phone out. "Give me your number. We can meet up before the party."

There.

That wasn't too hard.

Why they hell did she have damn butterflies dancing in her stomach as she watched him put his number into her phone?

—

Author's Note: Okay. I wanted to have this up like three days ago.

Guess what I did? I'm writing three TVD fics right now, _All This Time,_ with Taaroko, and then _Cheap Guitars_. A few days ago, I guess I had chapter one and chapter four opened for BH and CG, and Taaroko had just finished beta'ing chapter four. Usually to save time of finding files in my downloads or renaming chapters such, I just copy and paste anything beta'ed into the original document… and I totally saved chapter four of CG over this chapter.

I was pissed. I think it was going to end up much longer, but I had to rewrite the entire thing. The only good thing that has come from this is I like this chapter a lot better. XD I also had to reupload the CG4 chapter.

Pain in the ass.

But anyway, yes, Spike and Drusilla from _Buffy _made an appearance in the prologue. They won't be in the story anymore because it was just a cameo, and I couldn't help the reference to them because the story had a Woodstock scene. I'm a huge Buffy fan, if you guys hadn't noticed, lmao.

Gosh. It's 4 in the morning. I'm gonna get to bed… I seriously need to lay off on the strawberry short cake coffee after seven p.m. I don't know how much writing I'm going to be doing for the next couple weeks since I'm moving soon (I have too many fucking books).

Make sure you leave a review! I really appreciate it when I get feedback. Thanks to everyone who has already left a review and favorited/alerted.

I'm on twitter if you guys want to follow me, anglcdmn1986. I post silly shit like when Winnie, one of my rabbits, knocks my notebook to the ground (I still swear the little shit was grinning when he managed it). Okay. Bed time for this chicka...I don't quite feel like sleeping all damn day til work. XD


	3. Attraction and Antiquities

There is a semi-longer note at the bottom but I'm posting this as quick as I can because I want to pester everyone in the party downstairs to have a shot with me. Taaroko, when you read this, I fully expect you to harass me for not waiting long enough for you to beta (I promise I'm always careful when I write my first draft).

Chapter Two

"Whoa," Caraoline said Saturday afternoon when she and Bonnie came to the dorm.

"My room looks like Hurricane Elena attacked it and I can't find anything to wear," Elena huffed and threw her hands up in the air in defeat. "Our closet space isn't big enough and I forgot the shirt that would have been perfect with those jeans."

The jeans in question were the only article of clothing not thrown on the floor, but neatly folded on top of Elena's desk.

"Wow," Bonnie said. "This Damon guy must be _really _cute."

"Well," Caroline said. "_We_ have huge closets. You guys wouldn't have this problem if you would just pledge—"

"Just drop it, Caroline!" Elena and Bonnie shouted at the same time.

"Okay. _Geez,_" Carolne said. She put her hands up in mock surrender. "So Damon is definitely a date?"

Elena hesitated as she tried to decide if she wanted to just go to the party in a laid back tee-shirt or if she wanted to wear one of her nicer club worthy shirts. It wasn't like she went out often enough to have to worry about those sorts of things.

Damon and Elena had been texting each other since she had him put his number into her phone. She liked him. A lot more than she thought she would. However, Elena told herself she was not ready to date yet. She was just taking Damon to the sorority party to make Caroline back off.

"No, it's not a date," Elena said. "I offered him five bucks to come."

"Well, that was just stupid! It _could _turn into one," Caroline actually sing-songed her last statement.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "How about we put your clothes away and do a little shopping at the mall?"

Elena frowned hopelessly at her wardrobe. "Okay. Yeah. I feel like none of this will do because it all just feels so… _blah_. If I wear any of this, I'll look like I just got out of high school."

"You're being so silly. You wouldn't look like that, you have great clothing!" Caroline said. "You just really like this Damon guy." She nudged Elena playfully as she and Bonnie helped her put her shirts away. "You wouldn't care so much if you didn't."

"Don't be ridiculous," Elena huffed. "He's just a potential friend."

"Yeah, potential hot guy who you're going to a party with," Bonnie chimed.

Elena groaned. "Not you too."

—

"Hey Mom," Elena said, her phone pressed to her ear while she scored the clothing rack of a local clothing store in the small mall next to Whitmore college.

"Hi honey," Miranda said. "I wanted to know if you're coming home this weekend."

Elena found a really cute red and black sweater and pulled it from the rack. "I was just home for a month!" Elena giggled. Her mother really had a serious case of empty nest since she and Jeremy lived on campus.

"Jeremy came home. Jenna wants to come over tomorrow night and I thought it'd be cool to have a family game night if you're not too busy."

Elena wanted to go, but she was pretty sure she would be drinking a lot that night.

"Sorry Mom. I've got plans with Bonnie and Caroline this weekend. Send lots of love to Aunt Jenna."

"I will. She declared she had some big announcement this weekend."

"You are not guilt tripping me into coming home," Elena said, laughing. Miranda had some evil tricks up her sleeves to get them to come home on the weekends. "How's daddy?"

"He's been really busy with work and Council stuff this week," Miranda said. "Uncle John crashed over here for a few days too so they were catching up."

"Cool," Elena said. "I hate to do this, but Bonnie and Caroline dragged me to the mall." Both of them were silently beckoning Elena to hang up the phone. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Wait! Are you still carrying the—"

"Never leave my dorm without it, Mom. Bye."

"Good girl," Miranda said. "I'll call you later."

"So, I think that I found you something," Caroline said as soon as Elena was off the phone. She pulled whipped out a set of dresses from behind her back and shoved them at Elena.

"No way, I am not wearing a dress!" Elena said.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Come on, you need to live a little."

"I want to go to this party as casual as possible," Elena said. "Wearing a dress is not casual."

"Do you want to go to this party looking like you're a freshman straight out of high school or are you going to listen to your best friends and go try on these damn dresses?" Caroline said.

Elena glared at Bonnie and Caroline. "I don't know why you two are fussing over me so much. It's not like I'm going on a date tonight."

Caroline gave Elena her "are you serious?" look. "Honey, just stop _arguing _with us and go try those on."

—

Damon wondered what it was about Elena that made him so interested in her.

A few years ago he probably would have just eaten her and gotten it over with. He was tired of living in a sort of limbo where he didn't know what he wanted to do with himself. That's why he was doing this college thing. It worked out so well for Lexi back in the seventies, Damon figured he might as well do it again too rather than crashing the occasional party and feeding on pretty girls.

Lexi had convinced him one of the surest ways to be able to live normally would be to eat the bagged stuff. As he poured the blood into his mug and ran a towel over his hair, he realized he missed the chase. Whitmore College was too close to Mystic Falls to have mysterious animal attacks start happening. And there was just… something about Elena. He didn't want to hurt her. He wanted to get to know her.

It wasn't because he had some screwed up notion that she could somehow replace the tear in his heart from Katherine choosing Stefan.

His phone buzzed on his kitchen counter.

"You are SOOO going on a date. Who is she? A cute sorority chick? Ooh, or a band geek? I hear they're freaky, you can rock her world with vamp sex."

Damon rolled his eyes at Lexi's text message and quickly tapped out, "Neither."

Lexi's text shot back a minute later. "Either way, NO EATING HER."

"Your self-righteous save-the-humans crap is getting as old as you are, Lexi. Be careful!"

Damon smiled smugly when he didn't get another text message. It didn't matter if she would always be young and beautiful forever—women would always be sensitive about their age.

He took a few more minutes getting ready, pulling on a pair of jeans and black shirt over his head after he finished his blood. He was in the middle of trying to decide if he needed another bag of blood when he heard the knock on his door. Damon looked at it in confusion. No one actually knew where he lived.

"Shelia," Damon said after he opened the door.

"Damon," the witch said. "I hope you don't mind my dropping by. I looked you up in the student directory. We should talk for a few minutes. Do you mind if I come in?"

Damon hesitated, and found it incredibly amusing that Shelia was asking him for entry into his apartment rather than the other way around. He stepped out of the way and waved her in. "Of course, come in. I'd offer you something to drink, but all I have right now is wine, bourbon, and bagged blood."

The way Shelia tried to hide her disgust at the mention of bagged blood had Damon smirking.

"I can't stay long," Shelia said, "but I noticed you paying a lot of attention to Elena Gilbert in my class."

"She needed a seat. I let her sit next to me," Damon shrugged.

"I know you've done a lot for my family, but I won't sit idly by and watch you use that sweet girl. She might not know it, but she's had more than enough trouble in her life already."

"What do you mean?" Damon knew he sounded concerned. He couldn't help it—the moment he saw Elena with whipped cream on the tip of her nose, he was just a little bit attached.

Shelia studied him for a moment. "I'll tell you everything. I know you have a party you have to get ready for since Elena asked you to go with her. Don't do anything to hurt her, I mean it."

"I'm eating the bagged stuff, Shelia. You don't have to worry. I want to keep a low profile," Damon said. "I swear—I'm not here to hurt anyone."

Shelia watched him for a few more moments before she finally sighed and patted him on the shoulder. "Okay. For some reason, I think I can trust you. Don't make me regret it."

"We'll talk. I want to know what you meant."

—

Elena couldn't believe Caroline talked her into buying a dress. Not a modest dress either. This was a light blue dress with a lace corset panel and a built in bra with spaghetti straps. It had black satin trim along the edges. Elena shivered as she adjusted her purse on her shoulders. She was waiting outside of the sorority house for Damon, as she'd told him she would meet him outside.

"You already look absolutely miserable."

"You startled me," Elena laughed nervously once she realized who it was.

"This looks like it's going to suck," Damon said.

Elena turned and looked toward the house. Some crappy tune blasted into the air from the party.

"I told you I'm going for a friend. I'll give you one last chance—you can skip out even though you won't get the five bucks." Her teeth chattered.

"If that's the crap they're playing, I'm afraid I will have to skip out."

Elena was certain he saw it when her face fell. She'd been joking, but she didn't think he would actually tell her he was going to take her up on her offer to bail out of going to the party with her. She didn't want to go to the party either, but she also wanted to spend time with Damon.

"I'd much rather listen to the Stones," Elena admitted.

"How about this," Damon said, walking in front of her, "instead of torturing ourselves with crappy hip hop and swarms of drunk sorority girls who are going to shamelessly hit on me all night, why don't we go back to my place?"

Elena crossed her arms and grinned up at him in amusement. "You're full of yourself."

"I am, let's forget that for a moment. Come back to my place with me."

"I don't know…" Elena said. "Care will _kill _me if I skip the party."

"Geez, your teeth are chattering," he stepped forward and rubbed her arms for her. "I parked my car nearby. I'll blast the heat for you."

"I hardly know you," Elena said.

"Oh please, like you'll get a chance to know me in _there_."

Damon did have a point.

"You'll be saving your money. What kind of friend would force you to go to a party, anyway, when you are so uncomfortable with it?"

His hands rubbing up and down her arms made her feel a little better. They'd stepped closer to each other somehow, and her knees brushed against his. Elena sighed.

"She's just trying to look out for me. I broke up with my boyfriend, Matt, earlier in the summer and I've been having a hard time since I found out he's got a baby on the way with his wife."

"Ouch," Damon said. "I can't let you go into the party now. Throwing yourself into a crowd of people you don't know is never a good idea."

"How would you know?"

"You're an argumentative little thing, aren't you?" Damon asked, still rubbing her arms for her.

Elena shrugged.

"I'll give you a huge glass of red wine and I promise we'll just talk. I'd rather not get to know you through just text messages and short conversations in class."

"Okay," Elena relented. "I'll come over. Just let me send my friends a text."

"I'm too much of a gentleman to let you keep freezing, do that in my car."

Elena smiled at him. He seemed to actually care she was cold, and that was different than what she was used to. Matt had cared about those sorts of things, but he never went out of his way to be chivalrous.

—

"You have a really nice place," Elena said as she looked around Damon's apartment.

The floor plan of the apartment was open. A large black sectional sat against the back wall of the living room where a white afghan laid across the back. The floor was dark wood. Across from the couch sat a table and a flat screen TV was mounted to the wall, with a dark wood coffee table near the couch. A table sat in the middle of the dining area. Elena couldn't help but think Damon's entire apartment was impeccably neat.

It was Damon's twin set of bookshelves which really caught Elena's attention the most.

"Make yourself comfortable," Damon said. "I'll go get the wine. Is red okay?"

"Red sounds great," Elena smiled at him. She set her purse down on the edge of the sectional as she looked at the bookshelves. They weren't full of only books; it also had a mixture of vinyl records interspersed throughout the shelves.

First, she pulled _The Great Gatsby _from the shelf, and was surprised to see it was a first edition of the book. Elena looked more closely at all of the books on the shelf and realized most of them were all first editions.

That was when three books especially caught Elena's attention. They were three separate volumes of _Sense and Sensibility. _Unable to help herself, Elena became excited and pulled the first volume from the shelf and gently stroked the cover before she opened it.

Elena bit back her squeal when she saw "by a Lady" on the title page of the book. Elena was not an obsessive Janite but she knew much of the history of Jane Austen's written work and how she hadn't ever published by her name when her books were first published.

She liked Damon a lot. Okay, she knew it was far more than "a lot" after seeing his first edition copy of _Sense and Sensibility_. Excited, Elena started to call for Damon when a page fell from the book.

Elena bit her lip, suppressing the urge to swear because she should have been more careful with the book. She bent down to pick up the page, and realized it was the other side of the title page. Elena bent down to pick up the page. There, she saw a small note.

_Dear Damon, _

_I hope you enjoy reading this book one day as much as I. It is my hope that when you marry, you find a wife with just the right amount of sense and sensibility. _

_Much love, Mother_

Elena stared at the page for a moment, first a bit enraged anyone would write in a first edition of such an old book. The note was incredibly sweet. Then she read the note again, and realized Damon's mom must be formal and old fashioned.

"I see you are entranced by my first editions," Damon said as he walked into the living room with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Your mother found you a first edition of _Sense and Sensibility?" _

Damon set the wine and glasses on the floor next to the couch and walked over to the book shelf, where he plucked the loose page from Elena's fingers.

"It's not my favorite book—but it still means a lot," Damon said. "This was one of the only things mom left me before she died."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Elena said. Damon handed her the page and she slipped it back into the book, which she then put back on the bookshelf.

"It's all right," Damon said. "It happened a long time ago."

"What about the rest of your family? I know you have a brother and sister-in-law. What about your dad?"

"Gone too," Damon said as he walked toward the couch. "He's been gone almost as long as Mom."

Could she have any less tact, Elena asked herself. "I'm sorry—"

Damon chuckled at her. "Don't worry about it. He died a long time ago too."

"So—um—your brother and sister in law? Tell me about them? I have a brother who goes to Whitmore, actually." Elena sat down next to him on the couch.

"I'm not that close to them. Katherine and I used to date before she left me for Stefan."

"That's horrible!" Elena said.

Damon shrugged. "I'm learning to slowly forgive them even though I haven't completely. Stefan is the lone broody type and Katherine is… hard to describe."

"I'm just going to stop asking questions about family," Elena laughed awkwardly.

Damon opened the wine. "It's okay. I still talk to them, but they got married when they were still in their teens and we've mostly lived in different states."

Elena huffed before she could stop herself. "They got married young too, huh? What _is _it with everyone jumping to get married so fast? I was engaged a few weeks before I came to my senses and gave the ring back to Matt."

"Matt? Is that the ex who has a pregnant wife now?"

Elena nodded. She bumped the blanket on the couch, and some of it tumbled onto her lap. Ever the knitter, she found herself wondering what kind of fabric was used for the yarn in the blanket.

"Is this handmade?" Elena asked.

"Katherine made it for me as an apology," Damon said.

Elena studied it for a moment. It was a beautiful piece, with a mixture of cable knit and butterfly stitches. "It's one heck of an apology. This must have taken her forever to finish."

"Katherine has a lot of time on her hands."

"Did you love Katherine? I don't know if I was actually in love with Matt… I mean, I cared for him, but at the end it really just felt like I was with him more out of obligation than because I genuinely cared about him."

Damon made himself more comfortable on the couch and pulled down the rest of the blanket to place across his lap. "I thought I did. Everything with them happened a long time ago."

"But you didn't? I really just think I was more comfortable with Matt more than anything. I would have been settling if I married him."

"You don't want to settle," Damon said, drinking some of his wine. "You want passion, and adventure… and maybe a little bit of danger."

Elena must have stared at Damon a whole minute before she tried to say something and the words would not come. Before she knew what possessed her, Elena leaned in and kissed him. For a moment, she worried she had assumed too much about the signals he was sending her before Damon kissed her back. There was just something about Damon she couldn't resist. They moved closer to each other and Damon cupped her cheek. Elena tilted her head for a better angle. His lips tasted like merlot.

Glass tumbled to the floor and made them jump apart.

"Shit," Damon said. He reached down to grab the wine bottle and Elena acted fast, pulling the blanket all the way onto the couch so the wine wouldn't stain it.

"Oops," Elena said and giggled nervously.

Damon paused for a second, leaned in and kissed her again. "Will you hold my glass for me while I get something to clean this up?"

Elena took his glass and nodded to him. Damon licked some of the wine from the bottle as he walked toward the kitchen.

She almost couldn't believe she had the guts to kiss him first. Matt had been the one to make all the moves when they first got together. Elena smiled and bit her lower lip as she watched him rummage around in his kitchen for a second before she heard her phone buzzing in her purse.

She set the wine on the floor away from the spill and plucked her phone from her purse.

It was a text from her mom.

"_Elena, I don't know where you are right now, but please remember what I've taught you." _

Elena bit her lip a little harder, but clicked her phone off and put it back into her purse. She figured it wouldn't hurt, and it would give her a piece of mind. The accidental wine spill gave her the perfect opportunity to pull the small vial from her purse. Elena checked to see that Damon was still in the kitchen before she quickly glanced at it—it was a vial of clear liquid. She hesitated for a moment before she dumped it into Damon's wine then threw the vial back into her purse just in time for Damon to come back with some paper towels.

"There, that should do it," he said. He laid a small stack on top of the spill.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kick the bottle over," Elena said.

Damon sat down next to her and pulled the blanket back over his lap. "I might have—it doesn't matter. You know, I like you, a lot."

Elena beamed. "I like you a lot too," she handed him his glass. "To… um…"

"Not marrying too fast," Damon said.

She grinned wide. "Here's to not marrying too fast."

She quickly took a big gulp of her wine, as did Damon.

He suddenly collapsed and dropped the wine on top of the blanket as he fell to the floor. "I—Elena—" he gasped. "Did you just _roofie _me with _vervain_?"

He passed out within seconds.

Tears immediately sprang to her eyes. "Oh, _crap._"

First, I want to apologize for taking so long to update the story. I moved last month and it has been crazy trying to find the time to actually sit down and write. I wanted the chapter to be longer but I decided the cliff hanger was perfect and too good to go on adding the rest of what I planned. Heh, you guys can nag as MUCH as you want about the cliff hanger, I'm standing firm on where I left it.

And yes, I fully intended on Elena being knowledgeable of vampires the first go-around in this story. The whole point of starting it is I was curious about what would happen if Elena was a little older when all of the vampire stuff came to her in Mystic Falls (including Damon). Hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to leave a review (in fact they really make me want to write more). I can't believe I have about 20 reviews for just two chapters, you guys are awesome!

Okay, now I'm gonna go find that whiskey…


	4. Always Vervain a Boy on the First Date

*gasp* I'm updating again within the same week? What's this now!?

LOL. I've been sort of dying to write this chapter a while, thus the quicker update. I _know _it's going to leave you guys with a lot of questions, but all I ask is that you stay patient because I'm still working a few things out for the story. Thank you to the lovely Taaroko for betaing for me and putting up with me when I posted the funny bits into our AIM chat. If there are any mistakes, it's because we were talking to each other really late and might not have caught them (it's almost 3 am right now).

—

Chapter Three

Five minutes.

Elena only allowed herself five minutes to be upset. Dissolving into a blubbering mess over her date being a vampire would only upset her more and do no good. Elena genuinely wanted to move on after Matt, and for a while she wondered if maybe she could do that with Damon.

Elena grabbed her purse and rummaged around in it, worried that the dose of vervain she gave him wouldn't be enough to keep him down any longer than a few minutes. Her mother made her carry vervain. Slipping it to new people was the rule her parents enforced. She had to do it otherwise they would have made her stay at home.

Not thinking much, she quickly stuck Damon with the vervain syringe. Damon was lying in a weird position, and despite herself, Elena felt bad and turned him around until he looked like he was more comfortable, with his head in her lap. Elena reached for her phone.

"Anna?" Elena said after the third ring.

In the background Elena heard her mother's laugh and other familiar sounds of the Mystic Grill.

"What's up?" Anna said.

"Um, can you go somewhere no one will hear us talking?"

Anna seemed to hesitate for a moment but then Elena heard her excuse herself from the table and through what sounded like a busy crowd in the restaurant.

"What's wrong?" Anna asked. "I'm in the ladies room."

"I have a situation. I was on a date."

"Why do you sound all doomsday end-of-the-world? It's awesome that you went on a date!"

In frustration, Elena scooted until Damon's head was no longer in her lap. She stood, and tried to stay still, but she only started pacing.

"Yeah. It was an awesome date—we even kissed—until I snuck the stupid vervain mom and dad make me carry into his drink. He's a vampire, Anna."

"Say no more," Anna said. "I'll go get Jeremy—"

"No! Please, I want to keep this as low key as possible. I just want to question him."

Elena looked at Damon, and realized while she was frightened of him because she found out he was a vampire, the thought of him getting hurt scared her even worse. He also looked really uncomfortable on the floor, and so she shifted her phone to her other ear and pulled the afghan off the couch then tucked it under his head.

"Elena Gilbert, were you actually _crushing _on this guy?"

"Anna!"

"Okay, okay," Anna said in a flippant voice. "I'll be there ASAP."

"Thanks," Elena said. Suddenly she felt like she couldn't breathe in enough air, or get out what she wanted to say fast enough. "Thanks, really, because I can't call Bonnie, and I can't tell Dad or Mom, and Jeremy would—"

"Elena! Honey?"

Elena was pretty sure she kept rambling, because what she said didn't make sense to even her.

"Elena!"

Elena realized she was crying again.

"Yeah?"

"Take a deep breath," Anna said. "I'll be there soon. Use more vervain if he wakes up before I get there."

"Really? Please, don't tell anyone—"

"I promise I won't."

Anna ended the call, and Elena found herself looking at Damon. She felt ridiculous crying again. She sat back down and lightly threaded her hand through his soft hair.

"Why did you have to be a vampire?"

—

Anna was a small Asian chick. Her hair fell down her back in mermaid ringlets and she wore a black tee shirt with a pair of blue jeans. The rope in her arms totally dwarfed her small frame as Elena let her into Damon's apartment. Anna dumped the rope onto the carpet and gasped when she saw Damon lying on the ground.

"Elena, you didn't mention you were on a _freaking _date with _Damon Salvatore!_"

"Why?" Elena asked in confusion. "Do you know him?"

"Elena, Damon is Giuseppe Salvatore's eldest son, who was a founder of Mystic Falls. He's one hundred and forty-seven years old or something."

Elena gasped as she looked down at Damon. "He told me his mom and dad were dead, and he has a first edition of _Sense and Sensibility _his mother wrote a note in. I thought it was worded strangely. It's not his first edition… all of the books are. How did this somehow not click when you've dated my brother for three years?"

Anna pulled Elena into a hug. "It's okay. We'll find out what he's up to."

"He seemed so normal. Oh geez!" Elena stepped out of Anna's hug and smacked herself in the forehead. "I offered him five bucks if he would go with me to Caroline's stupid sorority party with me." Feeling like she needed to sit, she climbed onto the couch and hugged a black couch pillow.

"Elena," Anna said as she picked up Damon with little effort, "remember when you found out I was a vampire?"

"We were all shocked, but Jeremy knew for weeks. As soon as he found out, Uncle John tried to stake you."

"Exactly. Jeremy wouldn't let him hurt me." Anna grabbed the rope after she deposited Damon into the chair. "The Battle of Willow Creek didn't just have casualties from the war. That night, the original founding member's council rounded up about twenty five vampires, including my mama, and put them into Fell's Church. There, they burned it down."

"I can't believe I didn't see any signs," Elena said.

"You wouldn't. Damon has a daylight ring like I do," Anna pointed to the massive ring he wore. Anna took the rope and started to secure it to Damon's arm. "Come on, Elena. You know it can be hard to distinguish a vampire from human until you have fangs buried in your neck."

Elena couldn't argue with Anna.

"What do we do?" Elena asked.

Anna didn't answer a few moments as she made sure the rope she tied Damon to the chair with was secure. Once satisfied, Anna seemed to appreciate her handiwork and tested the bonds of the rope.

"We question him, duh. Damon Salvatore and his brother are one of the reasons Mamma got trapped in the tomb in the first place."

"I thought it was because Johnathan Gilbert found out she was a vampire through his watch," Elena said.

"Well, that too, but it was just something that happened that night that made all the council members start rounding up all the vampires." Anna crossed her arms as she looked at Damon because he groaned. "Do you have extra vervain in case this wears off too fast?"

"I've got an extra syringe in my purse," Elena said. "I really don't want to use it on him." Thinking about using vervain on Damon again almost made her eyes fill with tears.

"Man, you Gilberts are always packing the stuff. Sometimes I'm afraid if I ever break things off with Jeremy that you'll vervain me out of spite for breaking your baby brother's heart."

Elena frowned at Anna.

"Um—yeah, anyway," Anna stammered. Elena jumped when Anna suddenly slapped Damon hard across the face and poised her fingers in front of his eyes.

"What the—get those away from my eyes!"

"I'm not letting you anywhere near Elena! You're one of Katherine's lapdogs!"

"The _hell _I am!"

"Wait, _Katherine?_ Your sister-in-law?"

"You have such pretty eyes too. I'd hate to poke them out _over and over._" Damon looked at her, horrified. "Oh don't be such a big baby, it's not like they won't grow back—wait, sister-in-law!?"

Damon still seemed a little foggy from the vervain, but he tested the ropes. He gave up after a few minutes when he couldn't break the ropes. "Sheila didn't tell me you were one of _those _Gilberts." He actually sounded sad.

"I am so confused," Elena said. "How do you know her outside of class? Who is Katherine to you? And what do you mean one of _those _Gilberts?" She huffed out the last word, a bit insulted, and determined not to let his hurt look get to her one bit.

"I can't believe you seriously kissed him," Anna scoffed. "Did he happen to mention you could be Katherine's twin? Actually, I think the word is doppelganger—"

"I swear if I get out of these ropes, I'm going to—"

"You are all bark and no bite," Anna spat out. "I'm like three hundred years older than you. You _so _don't have a chance."

Elena sank her head into her hands and sucked in a deep breath. "I think we need to all calm down."

"Just call the professor. You don't think she didn't spot me for what I was the moment I walked into her class? She was here earlier—"

"You're going to college?" Anna burst into giggles. "That's so _rich!_"

"You're probably still playing a high school student," Damon snapped back. "How's the one hundredth time playing junior in high school, Annabelle? I know Stefan loves it."

"Oh, so you _do _remember me." Anna looked smug. "I'm actually a freshman in college. I'm Asian, so no one thinks it's weird."

"When the hell did you get a personality? I remember how you used to cower in the corner of your mother's shop while Pearl shamelessly flirted with Johnathan Gilbert."

Anna pulled her index and middle finger out again. "Watch it, Salvatore. I _will _poke your eyes out."

"Oh for the love of—No one is going to get their eyes poked out," Elena said. She was starting to regret acting so fast after she found out Damon was a vampire, and wondered if calling Anna was actually a bad idea rather than a good one. "I'm just going to call Sheila. How do you know her, anyway, Damon?"

"I'm the reason the Bennett line survived. Are these ropes really necessary?"

"Well—I—" Elena faltered. Damon didn't _seem _dangerous.

"Yes," Anna said.

"Your opinion doesn't count," Damon sniped.

"I'm not the one who was dumb enough not to sniff my drink around a Gilbert," Anna sniped back.

"I really think this is all getting out of hand," Elena huffed. "He hasn't tried to hurt me before today, and if it wasn't for my parents' stupid rule, I might not have even—"

"Whoa, hold up a second," Anna said. Elena jumped back when Anna looked right at her. "I've not seen you in a few days. Have you been taking your mom's tea?"

"Oh, screw you, Anna!" Damon barked. "Why the hell would I compel her?"

Anna studied Elena for another moment before she stood back up. "You're a loser who can't keep Katherine Peirce, so you go for her twin—I dunno, you tell me."

Elena stood up and narrowed her eyes at Damon. "Apparently I look like your ex-girlfriend/sister-in-law. Is that the only reason you acted interested in me?"

"Hey," Damon protested. "_You _were the one who begged me to go to the party and looked all damsel in distress-like when you were freezing your ass off outside."

Elena shook her head in frustration and pulled her phone out. "I'm just going to call Sheila."

"Good! Do that! And let me out of these damn ropes."

"I'm _still _not letting you near her," Anna said as Elena looked for Sheila's number in her contacts list. "Why aren't you with Katherine anyway? I seriously thought you and Stefan would be her minions forever."

Damon futilely tested the bonds of the ropes again. "If you really need to know, Yoko," the joke went a little over Elena's head as she looked between the two of them, and Anna's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as Damon continued to speak, "I found out Katherine wasn't inside the tomb '69. She was with Stefan's best friend and a few other vampires at Woodstock, and it was there I found out she was happily in a relationship with Stefan."

"Okay, could you guys be quiet? I'm calling Sheila right now."

"Come on, Elena, there really isn't a reason for me to be in these bonds, is there?" Damon pleaded once more.

"Shut up. I still want to poke your eyes out," Anna said.

"You're both way, _way_ older than I am," Elena finally snapped. "Could you maybe act your age?"

It was so incredibly weird to scold two vampires for acting like five year olds, but Anna gaped at Elena for her snark as she waited for Sheila to pick up the phone.

"It doesn't work that way. When freeze at the maturity level we were at when we died. That's why sweet little Annabelle here is a complete brat," Damon said.

"What's you're excuse?" Elena asked. "You were what, twenty five?"

"Twenty four!"

Elena bit her lower lip and dug her right heel, which was starting to hurt from her shoes, into the wood floor. "That's not the point! Phone!"

"Elena, child," Sheila greeted. "Is everything okay?"

Sheila always had this uncanny ability to know when something was wrong with her, Bonnie, or Caroline. It was why when Bonnie started to get her powers that Elena was not surprised witchcraft ran in the Bennett family tree.

"Um—not quite. I've got Damon Salvatore tied to a chair in his living room. Anna came over when I called her because I slipped vervain into his drink—we didn't—"

Sheila burst into laughter. Anna looked alarmed and Damon was smirking—it was then Elena realized they were both listening to the conversation. Even after Anna had been dating Jeremy for three years, Elena still wasn't used to vampire hearing.

"I have to love your momma and daddy for making that vervain rule, baby girl, but Damon Salvatore has been protecting my family for almost one hundred and fifty years."

"So…" Elena faltered as she looked at him. "He's safe?"

"Oh, no," Sheila said, "but he wouldn't dare harm a hair on your head unless he wants to answer to me. I might have worried about him being a terror fifty years ago but now Damon is a changed man."

"Love you too, Sheila," Damon said loudly. Sheila burst into laughter again.

"Let the poor boy up from that chair," Sheila said. "And you tell Anna to go easy on him."

Anna sputtered for a minute, but then glared at Damon.

"Okay," Elena said. "_Thank you, _Sheila."

"It'll all be okay, Elena, you just listen to what Damon has to tell you and let him tell you when he's ready to. I'll see you both in class on Monday."

"Wait, don't let Sheila hang up," Damon said and turned to Anna. "Can you please let me go already?"

She hesitated.

"Anna," Elena huffed. "It's okay. I don't think he's going to hurt me, and you're here, and I've still got vervain."

"All right, fine. I still have twitchy fingers that want to gouge out eyes though, so you better not try anything funny," Anna said.

"Whatever," Damon said in a bored tone. As soon as he was free from his restraints, he walked over to Elena and gently took the phone from her hands. "Sheila, thank you—"

Damon walked off into what Elena figured was his bedroom so he could talk to Sheila, and then she turned red at the thought of Damon being in his bedroom and the fact that she'd actually made out with him before this whole situation became out of control.

"_Please _don't tell me you're still going to go all fan-girl crush on _Damon Salvatore,_" Anna moaned. "Your mom and dad have already given up hope of having grandchildren because of me and Jeremy. Don't break your mom's heart by falling in love with a vampire too."

Elena rolled her eyes and scowled at Anna. "I'm not in love with him! I really like him. And I kind of think looking like his sister-in-law is going to put a damper on anything romantic that might have been brewing between us."

Anna shook her head and laughed. "You really are foolish if you think you can resist having feelings for him."

Damon came back out of his bedroom with Elena's phone a few moments later. "Thank you, Elena."

She looked at him, surprised. "What for?"

"Not having me staked. I was wrong. You aren't anything like your family," he said. Elena found herself smiling at him.

Anna ruined the moment by groaning loudly. "Elena, come on. We need to go. I still don't trust him near you at all. In fact, you're standing too close to her Damon. Step back, 1864 rules."

Damon rolled his eyes and didn't budge when Anna tried to push him away from Elena.

Elena giggled. "It's okay, Anna… I actually want to talk to him."

Anna narrowed her eyes and then pointed her fingers toward Damon's eyes. "Next time I'm soaking the rope in vervain and bringing _my_ Gilbert."

"Interesting first date," Damon said after Anna left.

"I never said this was a date—" Elena said.

"I might have been helpless because of the vervain, but I still heard parts of it," Damon said.

Elena was sure she was now as red as a tomato. "Well, you could have told me you were a vampire."

"I somehow think this scenario would have happened either way," Damon said.

Elena shuffled from one foot to the other nervously. "I don't know…"

Damon surprised her by pulling her into a hug. "It's okay. You did the right thing. If I was any other kind of vampire, you might have been in real danger, and it's kind of hot that you know how to defend yourself."

Elena knew she was _definitely _the color of a tomato now. "I—well—I'm just glad Sheila could clear up the entire thing."

Damon pulled away slightly and pushed some of her hair out of her face. "Yeah, I'm glad she did too."

She should have protested when he did it, but Elena was stunned when Damon leaned down and kissed her. Elena didn't hesitate when she kissed him back.

"This wasn't how I imagined how our first date would go," Damon said, leaning his forehead against hers, "but I think you should give me another chance, minus the vervain roofie."

"I don't know, I apparently look like Katherine," Elena said. "Are you really interested in me because I look like her?"

Damon shook his head furiously. "No. You're—look, give me another chance, and I'll explain everything the next time we can spend time together."

She knew she shouldn't have even let Anna leave her alone with him, but for some reason Elena couldn't seem to shake the need to spend time with Damon.

"Okay, but I kind of need time to process everything that happened tonight," Elena said.

"Of course," Damon said.

"I'm sorry we ruined the blanket Katherine made for you."

Damon turned around, and then barked out a laugh when he saw the stained blanket. "I hated that damn thing anyway. You should go before Anna threatens my eyes again."

"You do have pretty eyes," Elena said. She picked up her purse and shoved some of the contents back in. "Um—I guess I'll see you in class."

"Definitely, I'll see you on Monday." Damon walked her to the door.

Elena wanted to kiss him again, but she told herself she still needed time to process everything, so she just smiled up at him before she walked outside of his apartment. It also helped that Anna immediately latched onto her arm and told her she took far too long.

* * *

Okay, for one, who else giggled at all of the snarking Anna and Damon did to each other in this chapter?

Yes, I know Damon and Elena are moving a little fast in the story, but they don't seem to want to have it any other way.

There are several things I've hinted at in this chapter, but I haven't fully explained yet, and I don't want to just yet. I just ask that you trust me, and that some of the questions will be answered in the next chapter. I've rearranged certain events around which have happened in the show, and you have to keep in mind that Damon found Stefan and Katherine together at Woodstock, and that is the entire basis for this whole story. I was tired and decided I feel comfortable with a 3000-word range for each chapter in this story, and they might get longer, but asking me to make it an longer might result in waiting for an update once a month with the way work and my personal life have been lately (I'm cooking, cleaning, and sniping after my brothers in the morning to get ready for work, for example).

I can't PROMISE such a fast update again, but who knows—I've really started to love this story. Kudos if you recognize where the chapter title came from hahaha.

And holy crap—30 reviews for 3 chapters. You guys are awesome. I'd love it if you'd try to make an effort to review if you haven't before, but you've added me to your favorites and/or alerts. You don't know how much I really love it when I hear from you guys.


	5. Expectation vs Reality

**As always, special thanks and love goes out to Taaroko. She's an amazing beta and friend. :)**

**Sorry it took me so long to get this out. I've been dating again (that is so fucking awkward sometimes) and living in a big house full of people can be distracting. **

Chapter Four

"You realize your parents are never going to get grandchildren if you fall in love with a vampire too, right?"

For the millionth time that night, Elena cursed at Caroline in her head for making her wear that dress, and she almost regretted not asking Damon to give her a ride home. "I just met him, Anna," she said with a roll of her eyes. "He's nice, but I don't know if it's going to go anywhere after I just embarrassed the hell out of myself with that interrogation."

Anna burst into giggles. "So that kiss he gave you was you guys not going anywhere?"

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Elena asked.

Anna sighed and stopped Elena at the corner of the street. "I went through a lot of crap with your parents when I got involved with Jeremy. You know it took them forever to trust me once they found out I was a vampire. I just don't know if they would take it well if you got involved with one too."

"I never _said _I'm going to get involved with him, Anna—"

"It's just, once a human falls in love with a vampire, there's always that nagging question in the back of the couple's heads—will the human turn because they are so in love with each other they can't stand the idea of not being together forever? It's a big question, and—"

"Holy crap, Anna, can you _say _jumping the gun? I just met him!" Elena burst out. "Why are you so convinced that we're going to be something more? I really like him, so yeah, I let him kiss me on the way out of his apartment, but I'm not even sure I want to go on an actual date with him, let alone think about those kinds of questions."

"I just want you to be careful," said Anna a little defensively.

"This isn't really about me, is it?" Elena snapped. "Everyone is so intent on me finding someone else after Matt, but you're the only one obsessing about crazy long-term stuff. I know Jeremy has been thinking about turning and you're starting to worry about looking like jail bait."

Anna turned abruptly to cross the street, her hands suddenly clenched together at her sides. Elena sighed and ran after her. "Anna, wait! I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to say that."

She knew the question of Jeremy turning into a vampire was a sore subject between him and Anna, and had been for some time. Elena only knew about it because she had walked in on a heated debate the two were having about it in Jeremy's dorm earlier that year. She didn't like the idea of her brother turning into a vampire, but at the same time, she could see the problems that would arise as the physical age gap between them grew more and more obvious. She knew how much Jeremy and Anna loved each other, so she could understand if Jeremy would be willing to make that change for her, but then there was the thought of how their parents would freak if they ever had to invite Jeremy into the house.

"We can go maybe a few more years before I really start looking too young for him, you know?" said Anna. Her tone was testy, but the fact that she had answered at all told Elena she was forgiven.

She pulled Anna into a one-armed hug. "How about we just walk back to my dorm and watch a vampire movie?" she offered. Anna didn't really have any girlfriends, so she tried to make herself available to hang out with her whenever she could. "Do you need to be back home tonight?"

Anna looked up at Elena and narrowed her eyes. "As long as it isn't _Twilight, _you've got a deal, sister."

Elena burst into laughter. "It was _Caroline _who made you watch that with us. She's the only one who likes it."

"I think I'm scarred for life," said Anna with a shudder. "Those things are not vampires. They're glitter freak demons."

—

It was Monday morning, and Elena dreaded going to class. Going to class would mean seeing Damon, and she wasn't sure she had the strength to keep her feelings in check around him. She didn't want to test her parents by getting close to a vampire, no matter how badly she wanted to know Damon. Deep down, she knew she was just being a chicken, but what else was she supposed to do when he had this tendency to just grab her and kiss her? So far, she had managed to avoid him and he seemed to be grudgingly following her lead, but she doubted that would last.

"Come on, Elena! We need to get to the coffee shop now if you don't want to be late to class, unless you plan to go without caffeine," said Bonnie. She was shoving her notebook into her bag, and looked almost giddy. "I can't believe someone dropped it!"

"Okay, I'm coming," Elena mumbled. She raked her right hand through her hair and then shook her head at herself and jumped off the bed.

"You have been so strange since you ditched me and Caroline to go over to that guy's house the night of the party," Bonnie said.

"How do you mean?" Elena asked warily as picked up her backpack.

"I don't know. You were really jumpy the next morning and it was kind of weird seeing Anna here. She and Jeremy usually joined at the hip."

Elena smiled at Bonnie. "I told you, nothing's wrong. I just don't think things are going to work out with Damon. He's amazing but I just…it's better I not go there, I guess."

—

"Hey, get up."

Damon was fairly certain he hadn't given anyone a key to his apartment, and yet, somehow, someone was there, kicking his foot harshly.

"Come on, don't be a lazy ass, Salvatore."

He groaned. She wouldn't. He had expressly forbidden her from breaking into his apartment, as she had done in his penthouse in New York, the Boarding House, and even a damn cottage he owned in Italy.

"You know, I'm really proud of you for going back to college and everything, but I saw your class schedule on your kitchen counter, and I kind of think you might be late if you don't get up _right _now," said Lexi as she flopped down onto the bed next to him.

Damon opened one eye wide enough to glare at her. "Haven't you ever heard of sleeping in?"

"I have," she said. "I don't like to do it if I can avoid it."

"You're up past your bedtime."

"Don't make me steal your ring. I'll do it."

Damon sat up and threw the covers from his body. "You know better than to threaten me," he said.

"Ugh, haven't you heard of pajamas?" she asked, wrinkling her nose at the sight of his completely naked form.

"Whatever, you know you like it," he said, strutting to his dresser, completely unabashed.

"Oh, yes, Damon, your bod is so sexy," said Lexi breathily before rolling her eyes. "But seriously, I'm like twice your age, so there's nothing you can do if I decide to teach you a lesson and take your ring."

"Did you come here just for idle banter and to make me get up for class?" said Damon as he threw on a pair of boxers. "Or was there a more significant reason you decided to break into my apartment at ten in the morning?"

He saw her shrug from the mirror next to his dresser. "I dunno. I might have wanted to know how things have been going with that girl you went on a date with have been going." She raised an eyebrow and grinned teasingly at him.

"You couldn't just send a text for that? You seriously came all the way down here from New York just so you could ask me about my love life? Or—wait, weren't you in D.C. with Stefan and Katherine?"

"You didn't eat her, did you?"

"You're avoiding my question," Damon said.

"Maybe I don't feel like answering you right now," Lexi shrugged.

They were silent for a few moments, and Damon decided class would be preferable to more Lexi badgering. He walked around gathering his things, still clad only in boxers, and he smirked when he thought he caught Lexi staring at him.

"I was going to put even more clothes on, but if you're going to look at me like that…"

Lexi snorted. "I am in a happily committed relationship, but thanks."

"Oh, yeah? What's his name?" Damon asked, picking out a pair of jeans. "His sign? Where's he from? Tell me _everything_."

Lexi burst out laughing. "Like you actually care."

"I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours."

"I'll only let you know his name is Lee."

"Fair enough. Elena knows I'm a vampire already. She snuck vervain into my wine and then, demonstrating exactly how small the world is, had an old buddy's daughter, Anna, come to her rescue and tie me up in my dining room so they could question me."

"They did what?" said Lexi, sitting up straight, her mouth open in shock.

"Anna even threatened to poke my eyes out and accused me of being Katherine's lap dog."

Lexi fell back onto the bed at that, laughing so hard she was clutching her stomach.

"I'm glad you find that so funny."

"I—just—they really did?" Lexi gasped between giggles.

Damon scowled at her, but she only cracked up even more.

"I _like _this girl," she said. "She sounds like she might keep you on your toes."

"Only _you_ would like someone after you found out she vervained me," Damon said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey I love any human girl who can knock Damon Salvatore on his ass and survive it. When are you taking her out again?"

"I actually have class with her, so I should go. You, in the meantime, can leave."

"You know I'm not going to," said Lexi.

"Well go somewhere else. The boarding house! I'm sure Zach would _love _the company," Damon said.

"I'm not going to bother him and his family. I'll make myself home here."

Of course she would. Further argument would be wasted breath, not that he needed the oxygen in the first place.

"Screw this," he said. "Do whatever you want. I'm going to go get the girl. She's been playing this little game where she's avoided me the past two weeks."

Lexi sighed. "Young girls and their dramatics…don't you want to know why I'm really here?"

Damon narrowed his eyes at her before he picked up his car keys. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of being curious. "Don't drink all my bourbon or break my speakers blasting Bon Jovi," he said as he turned to leave.

"Thanks! I think I will!"

—

"Hey!"

"That's not cool to cut in line, man!"

"Dick!"

Elena turned, frowning. She was at the coffee shop with Caroline and Bonnie and they had just made their order. She had her debit card out, ready to pay for their drinks, when someone pushed forward and slapped a twenty dollar bill on the counter. Her eyes widened. It was Damon.

"I'll take house coffee," he said, "and I'll be getting the drinks for the ladies." The other two girls shot her confused looks but Elena avoided their gazes. "And make sure you give Elena here extra whipped cream," he added.

Fine. He was here. But that didn't mean she had to talk to him. It was that simple. Maybe, if she ignored him, he would get the hint quickly and leave her alone.

It didn't matter how sweet it was that he bought coffee for her and her friends, or that he got her extra whipped cream on her drink (even though she had already asked for it). Nope. She wouldn't say a word.

Once Damon had his drink, he left the shop quickly, not speaking to any of them.

"_That _was the guy you ditched the party for?" Caroline gasped.

Elena let out a nervous half giggle. "Yeah."

"I totally forgive you," said Caroline.

"Oh, we have class with him don't we?" said Bonnie.

Elena adjusted her backpack. "We do."

"Will you stop being such a shy high schooler and _go _after him then?" Caroline burst out.

"I don't think it would work out—" she began, hoping to have an ally in Bonnie, but she obviously wasn't going to take her protests seriously either. Before she could finish her sentence, Bonnie had grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door. She didn't seem to care that they still had almost fifteen minutes before class started, and that they could have spared a few of them to talk to Caroline.

"Bonnie! Cut it out!" she protested.

"No way! You're crazy if you seriously think you shouldn't see a guy like that again. Did something bad happen when you went to his apartment? You haven't told me anything about it."

Elena could see Damon's back as they walked, even though he was much further ahead of them. She couldn't help but stare a little. Bonnie nudged her when she didn't answer right away.

"He was perfect," Elena said. Right up until she found out he was a vampire, anyway, but she didn't want to tell Bonnie that. "We even kissed."

"Really?" Bonnie squealed. "Okay, that settles it. You really can't not go out with him again."

"It wasn't a date though, Bon," said Elena. She saw Damon turn to smirk over his shoulder at her before he disappeared into the anthropology building. Her blood boiled with indignation. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten about his stupid vampire hearing.

"Can we talk about this later?" she asked just before they walked into the classroom. She could see Damon talking to Sheila at the front of the class, and she took a step back before he looked at her again.

Bonnie half smiled and stared at Elena suspiciously. "Hmm…okay. I'll let it go for now," she said. "But we are not done with this conversation."

"Thank you," Elena said. "Want to sit next to me?"

"You even have to ask?" said Bonnie as they walked down the aisle between rows of desks. "Hi Grams!" she called, waving at her grandmother, who returned the wave with a smile. They found a seat somewhere near the back. Elena deliberately chose a different table than the one she had shared with Damon that first week. It seemed, however, that this strategy would no longer be effective. No sooner had she sat down than she jumped in surprise; Damon was suddenly right behind Bonnie, who only noticed when he cleared his throat and pushed his way past her to sit down.

"You know, Elena is kind of my study buddy," he said. "I have dibs on sitting next to her."

Bonnie shot her a questioning look. Elena shook her head frantically, but Bonnie only rolled her eyes. "Sure," she said, smiling at Damon. "All you had to do was ask. I'll just sit at the next table." She patted Damon on the arm and then froze.

"Oh no, Bonnie," said Elena, starting to get up. "Calm down."

Bonnie stood rigidly still as she looked at Damon.

"Bonnie, honey," came Sheila's voice. She had obviously noticed what was going on. "Calm down. He's not a threat."

Bonnie snapped her head in her grams's direction. "But he's a—" She broke off before saying the word; the classroom was starting to fill up with other students.

"It's fine, baby girl. He's not a threat."

"He's not," Elena said.

Bonnie shook her head and let out a long, slow breath. "Okay." She laughed a little. "Elena, stop looking at me that way."

Elena was holding her coffee so tight that a little of it spilled over. She hissed and pulled her hand away from her drink. "Are you sure?"

"I'm _okay._"

—

"Okay, Sheila, want to tell me what's going on with your scary granddaughter?" said Damon. Class was over, and he and Sheila were the only ones left in the room.

Sheila leaned against her desk and looked out into the hallway, where swarms of college students were coming and going from class. She pushed back a lock of hair from her eyes before getting up to close the door and lock it.

"Have you ever heard of expression?" she asked as she turned to face him again.

Damon sat on top of a desk in the front of the room and crossed his arms. For a brief moment, he flashed back to New Orleans in the early forties, remembering his protégé Charlotte and a witch named Valerie LaMarche.

"I've heard of it, vaguely," he hedged, knowing she wouldn't be happy if he shared details of that particular part of his past.

"I took a sabbatical for a year in 2011 to travel to Africa and work with some women who live near the Kalahari Desert. They're witches and I thought what they were doing was fascinating. They went back to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle by choice, and they practiced an old magic, but it wasn't expression. Expression is dark, dangerous magic that allows a witch to go beyond using natural magic and lets them have limitless power. It comes at a terrible price and is almost impossible to control. While I was gone, a man named Atticus Shane covered my classes. I'd known him for years in the anthropology department."

"What does this have to do with Bonnie?"

"I should have been here for her. While I was gone, she started having trouble with her magic. Shane found her while she was on a trip to the college back when she was in high school, and he promised to help her. She didn't realize he was teaching her expression."

"And now she's ridiculously powerful?" said Damon.

"It goes a little further than that. Bonnie has no control over her magic when she gets angry or upset."

"Why the hell would Shane do that to her? Just for the laughs?"

"I'll spare you the boring details, but he wanted to wake up a two-thousand year old vampire named Silas, and he needed a witch from the original line of the woman who put him in his tomb, and they needed to use expression to wake him up. He damn near pulled it off too. The Gilberts got roped into it too, because Jeremy, Elena's brother, is one of the Five."

"The Five?" Damon repeated.

"Are you gonna let me tell the story or not?" said Sheila. Damon gestured for her to continue. "The Five are a group of hunters that were created to kill vampires—specifically Silas. Apparently there is some cure for immortality, and once he takes it, he can be killed. As fascinating as it is, I don't ever want to see someone like that woken up. But it doesn't matter much anymore; as soon as Jeremy's little girlfriend worked out Shane's plans for him, she ripped his throat out. The only problem is that Shane managed to make himself the only person who could control Bonnie if she lost control, and now he's dead. She's been fighting to keep it together ever since. She's been doing better lately, but I wouldn't test her by upsetting Elena if I were you."

"I won't hurt her. You don't have to worry about that," said Damon.

"Good, because she's been through a lot. Oh, and keep clear of Jeremy too. Just because his girlfriend is a vampire doesn't mean he wouldn't kill most of them on sight."

"Duly noted."

"What are your intentions toward Elena Gilbert?"

"Honestly?" Damon couldn't believe he was going to tell Sheila this, but he continued anyway, "I'm trying to let go of the past and do something more than just exist."

—

"You're Elena's friend, right?" said Damon, ignoring all the giggling girls in the living room of the sorority house except for the blonde he'd been looking for.

"Yeah!" she said brightly. She stood up and held her hand out to him. "I'm Caroline."

Damon could hear variations of "He's hot!" coming from at least half of the other girls in the room, and he had to suppress a smirk.

"I'm Damon—," he began, but Caroline interrupted him.

"Oh, I know who you are," she said. "What brings you over?"

"You know, it's actually funny," said Damon, flashing a grin at her. "I have Elena's phone number, but my phone has been acting strange and I haven't been able to text her. I was wondering if you could tell me which dorm she lives in? I want to surprise her."

There was a brief moment when Caroline's face fell as she realized that he wasn't there to hit on _her_, but to get access to her friend, but the next second, she was grinning widely. "Absolutely! Hey, Sarah, do you have paper?"

A redheaded girl nodded and pulled out a pen and notebook from her backpack on the floor and passed it to Caroline.

"I'm also giving you her school and personal email address, a list of a few of her favorite restaurants, and her dorm number in case your cell keeps acting up."

So much for his plan to use compulsion to get the information he wanted. In fact, she had surrendered all of it and more so easily that he was almost tempted to compel some discretion _into_ her.

"Thank you," he said, taking the paper and slipping it into his back pocket.

"I am so glad she's met someone," she gushed. "Do you have any idea what you're going to do to surprise her?"

Damon smiled. "I have a few things in mind."

—

Elena swore under her breath. Seriously? When saw through the peephole who was on the other side of the door, she tiptoed backwards and leaned against Bonnie's bed.

"You're really going to play that trick when I have super hearing?" said Damon. "I can hear you _breathing._"

"Damn," Elena muttered.

"I heard that too," he said in a sing-song, bright and happy voice, and Elena wanted to wipe what she was certain was a smug grin off his face.

"Go away, Damon!"

"Are you seriously going to do this? We kissed, I freaked you out, it was a thing, get over it."

"I told you to go away."

"Don't think I won't make a scene with a boom box and a huge declaration of love that will—"

Elena opened the door and glared at him. "_Seriously?" _

"Seriously," Damon said as he stepped inside.

"Why is it so damn important that you see me—" But she didn't get another word out, as Damon kicked the door shut behind him and kissed her.

"You don't have to be afraid of me, Elena." He smoothed her hair away from her face. "How is your friend, Bonnie? Sheila told me what happened to her."

"She's fine…she's studying in the library," Elena said. It was lucky he had her pinned against the closet door; she wasn't sure if she'd be able to stand upright on her own.

"Good," he said, and leaned down to kiss her again. She kissed him back until she realized what she was doing.

"No, wait, Damon stop—why do you have to keep kissing me?" She pushed him back a little, frustrated with herself as much as with him.

"I keep telling you that you don't have to be afraid of me," Damon said with a sigh.

"We can't do this," she protested, gesturing between the two of them.

Damon stepped closer to her again, unleashing the infamous smolder on her. "Why not?" he said, his face inches from hers.

Her hands were actually shaking, and she refused to meet his gaze. "I'm not supposed to feel this way about a vampire."

**Yeah. Evil. Leaving it on just a little bit of a cliff hanger and I also have to head to bed, so I didn't want to make Taaroko beta a big long chapter. I'll try to update quicker, but I can't promise. I probably should sit down and plot out a few chapters LOL. I keep on trying to make them wait, but Damon and Elena really want to be together quickly in this story, but I don't think love confessions will happen for a long time. I just figure that Elena is really starting to develop feelings for Damon—there are no obstacles in their way (yet, mwahaha). I am going to go more into Anna and Jeremy's story too, but I don't want it to overwhelm the story, so you guys might get it in bits and pieces. **

**Yes. The Silas stuff happened, but this was before Damon and Stefan came back. I really love playing with the idea of them not being there simply because Katherine came forward early and chose Stefan. I'm pretty sure this was obvious, anyway. I loved writing the scene where Sheila told Damon what happened. **

**Just an FYI, when I was in college, I think one my favorite cultures to learn about were the Kalahari Bushmen in Africa (I know they had another name, but it's almost 3 in the morning and I don't feel like googling it), and that's where the inspiration for Sheila's little sabbatical came from. I probably would have gone to become a cultural anthropologist had I decided I wanted to go to grad school but I simply haven't felt like going through all of that. I'm happier to try to get published and working from home, LOL.**

**I'm actually also writing a new novel. Remember my other fic, Cheap Guitars? I decided the storyline was too good to leave as just fanfiction, so I have removed it so that I can turn it into something original. If you were reading it, send me a PM and maybe I can send you bits of the original work, but I took it down because I should have known better to attempt to write an au/ah and not have it turn into something that wanted to take a complete life of its own. I might—MIGHT—post it on fictionpress.**


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